


Failed in All Things

by jvstyouwait



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 19:43:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20458442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jvstyouwait/pseuds/jvstyouwait
Summary: Tony was always waiting for the thing that finally pushed Steve over the edge.





	Failed in All Things

**Author's Note:**

> So....it's been years since I've written anything but lately the Tony Stark feels have been getting to me. I haven't decided if I want to turn this into an actual story or just leave this little ficlet here. Guess we'll see if my brain/anyone else wants more.

Tony was always waiting for the thing that finally pushed Steve over the edge. 

He’d been so careful, so cautious to not be too flippant, to not be too overbearing, to just not be too much. Because Tony Stark was, in nearly all ways, _ too much _. His relationship with Pepper was over because his need to protect others was too much to bear Which was, reflected Tony, absolutely fair - that was putting too much pressure on Pepper when she was already handling everything else in Tony’s life that was stressful. Simply put, something had to give. And that was Tony. 

Then there was his relationship with Ty. Looking back, he was embarrassed at how goddamn much attention his younger self needed from the older boy. He had just been too needy, too clingy, that of course Ty got sick of trying to cater to Tony’s near-neverending needs. It only made sense. 

Howard had directly told him that he was too much. And that was as much as Tony was going to think about it, because revisiting that feeling when he was six years old was something that even Tony could recognize as being unhealthy. 

Tony liked to think (when he let himself think about such things) that he’d gotten better. He handled his own needs - no outside help needed thanks very much - and he only took what he was given freely. 

Of course he slipped up. He’d get too comfortable and say something that was too close to his old self (_ the pre-nuclear bomb Tony, the pre-Obie betrayal, the pre-Yinsin-and-cave Tony _) and he could see the lines of Steve’s face tighten. Whenever Tony caused that deep ridge to form between Steve’s eyes, he knew it was time for a nice long session in the lab where the only way he’d leave was an Avengers emergency or Steve bodily forcing him out. 

And it wasn’t that they fought, of course they did. Two strong personalities that were constantly fighting for the prize of ‘most stubborn asshole this side of the Mississippi’? Laughable amounts of arguments. But even when his temper was up, Tony did his best to not say something too far over the line. Because what if that was what finally did it? What if Tony had finally found the straw that broke Steve’s back, broke Steve’s neverending patience for his idiocy? Then where would Tony be? (_ Alone. _) 

So whenever he thought he got too close to that point, Tony brought himself back. Pulled the reins abruptly to force-shock his brain into realizing whatever came out of his mouth next could be fatal. Because how could he get so comfortable? Didn’t he know exactly what would happen if he just let himself go? He knew that he couldn’t be that open, because no one would like him if he was. That’s how he had lost Pepper, Ty, and of course, Howard. The reprimand in his head tended to take on edges of Howard’s voice. _ Be polite, think before you speak, think before you act you goddamn idiot, I don’t have time for this you’re too much to deal with _ \- all came in echoes of Howard’s dulcet and prickly tones. 

So naturally, Tony knew that the end of his and Steve’s relationship would be orchestrated by him. Because who else was so good at fucking up every good thing that had ever happened to him? 

Of course Tony was wrong. 

  
  



End file.
